Enjoying Holiday Traditions with Simple Foods and Family Fun

Compensation was provided by General Mills. The opinions expressed herein are those of the author and are not indicative of the opinions of General Mills. #HolidayTraditions

I love Christmas morning when the kids wake up and are bouncing off the walls with excitement over what Santa brought them. It’s my favorite holiday tradition. Although, I am usually a little tired because I don’t typically get much sleep on Christmas Eve. I am the one who stays up to help Santa with gifts.

Our Holiday Traditions

We have a rule in our home that we cannot open any gifts under the tree until everyone is awake and we have made breakfast. Plus, as Santa’s helper, Dad needs his coffee. To buy a little time, we allow everyone to check their stockings for little stuffers… and occasionally even a chunk of coal.

We make breakfast as easy as possible to avoid any overthrow of power by the children just dying to see if they got any of the items on their lists. Our favorite quick and delicious breakfast is a big tray of Pillsbury™ Grands!™ Flaky Original Cinnamon Rolls with Icing. We enjoy them most piping hot… straight out of the oven. This is one holiday tradition that never fails to make everyone smile!

The kids really enjoy making these. I just have to preheat the oven for them and put a pot of coffee on for me and Mom. We let her sleep in for a few minutes, however, the aroma of baked cinnamon rolls gets her up before they’re all gone.

Sometimes we get creative and top the hot buns with toasted nuts, crushed up Cascadian Farms Oat and Honey Granola Bars, or a drizzle of warmed chocolate and hazelnut spread. Mostly, we just eat them with our hands right out of the pan on Christmas morning. They are gooey, flaky, and sweet!

After the gifts are opened and we’re still in our pajamas, everyone seems to be hungry again. But, no one wants to put down their favorite toy or electronic gizmo. To keep things easy, so we heat up a few packages of Totino’s Pizza Rolls, another General Mills meal idea that takes such little effort the kids can make them.

Christmas Eve is our time with extended family when we enjoy a big, more formal meal together. Christmas Day is more about just enjoying time with our family. We’re in pajamas, the kids play, and I take a much needed nap once the dust settles. For this reason, we really like our meals and snacks to be super easy to prepare, warming, and delicious all day. We rely on the General Mills family of products to keep us satisfied. We can always sit down to a great meal of Christmas Eve leftovers at dinnertime.

Giveaway from General Mills

Who is the keeper of your holiday traditions? Celebrate them this holiday season by sharing the #HolidayTraditions they have helped inspire by posting a comment AND sharing on social for your chance to win a Betty Crocker Big Red Cookbook and a $25 Visa gift card. Make sure you tag your social share with #HolidayTraditions.